Saw Argyle, which was a weakish film for me. The components were pretty good (the cast, musical numbers), but the action scenes didn't have the punch that the Kingsman films did, and the overall explanation for the central conceit didn't really work for me. I didn't have a bad time or anything, but it was one of Vaughn's less successful films. (I'm fighting against the concept that films that aren't fantastic are automatically worthless shit, and even bad films have good elements in them)
Dune Part 2 is a perfectly cromulent Dune movie. It was big and beautiful and kinda awkward and weird and unsubtle, and like... that's kinda okay with me? Everyone involved really went for it, and that counts for a lot. It's got a vibe.
I do love a strong, weird vibe.
Isn't that Villeneuve in a nutshell?
On my trip to Thailand, I watched The Marvels.
I enjoyed it. I actually found it really funny. I think Ms. Marvel and her fam were definitely meant for the big screen and they really shined on it.
The villain was uneven. In fact, my recent binge of Demon Slayers seems like a master class in how to build a villain that is neither cookie cutter nor do you question their strength/threat. And one of the benefits of the video game style multistage villains is that not only do you establish them with a solid threat presence. But you also allow the audience to uncover more and more of that immense power satisfactorily. So when they are defeated, the growth, collaboration, luck and divine intervention attributed to the hero(es) triggers an emotional response.
Isn't that Villeneuve in a nutshell?
By ordinary standards, maybe. By Dune standards he's the mild sauce.
But I dunno, there's something endlessly fascinating to me about how all the different adaptations of Dune find at least one different way to be awesome and at least one different way to miss the mark. And all those ways are SO different from one another while still being recognizeably Dune.
I can watch a Dune and thoroughly enjoy myself and still notice a half dozen things missing or ass-backwards and still be clapping like, good effort, good effort, love the hustle, can't wait to see what some other weird motherf*cker does with it in another twenty years.
I now regret that there is no "love" button...
fangblackbone wrote:Isn't that Villeneuve in a nutshell?
By ordinary standards, maybe. By Dune standards he's the mild sauce.
But I dunno, there's something endlessly fascinating to me about how all the different adaptations of Dune find at least one different way to be awesome and at least one different way to miss the mark. And all those ways are SO different from one another while still being recognizeably Dune.
I can watch a Dune and thoroughly enjoy myself and still notice a half dozen things missing or ass-backwards and still be clapping like, good effort, good effort, love the hustle, can't wait to see what some other weird motherf*cker does with it in another twenty years.
I don’t like you because you made me imagine a Tim Burton Dune and I don’t like it.
With what seems to be a hit on his hands Villeneuve is officially admitting that he plans to cover Dune Messiah for a 3rd movie and that has been his intention all along and why he's structured the movies the way he has. Villeneuve's Dune has some time dilation to try and get everything in, but every second that is shown on the screen is packed to the brim with detail from the book. People just watching the movie and no book experience won't notice, but it's truly the best love letter to the book by any one to date...
Yeah, you could definitely feel them tying things up just enough to be okay if this is it, while leaving things open for the Messiah adaptation they obviously want to make next.
Not sure how they adapt Messiah given the very different version of Chani this movie gives us, though, and given that they basically haven't set up the Spacing Guild at all. Not saying it couldn't be done, just that it would probably involve greater story liberties than we've seen so far from Villeneuve's version.
Which is also not to object to the liberties they already took with Chani either. I don't think everything they did with her necessarily landed the way they probably wanted it to, but considering that I found the character in the book to be a pretty underdeveloped nothingburger, I don't fault them for trying.
My concern for Messiah is the pacing overall... it's more politics and intrigue than an action extravaganza even with the adjustments for Chani it may end up being too much of a tempo swing and off putting for lots of folks.
I don’t like you because you made me imagine a Tim Burton Dune and I don’t like it.
Imagine what a Yorgos Lanthimos Dune would look like. Especially the sandworms.
You've probably realised a Burton Dune wouldn't be that bad.
Tim Burton did not already make a Dune?
Dune Part 2 completely blew me away. My feeling is that Villeneuve’s Dune trilogy will be as impactful to the next generation of sci-fi filmmakers as Star Wars was to the sci-fi filmmakers who came up in the 1980s.
The first two movies are obviously very different from Star Wars and Empire. The first is a lot of world building and introspective mother-son relationship building. The second is a straight up action movie with somewhat elided political and religious tones from the books.
If you thought part 2 was freaky, just wait. I can’t wait to see what Villeneuve does with Dune Messiah. For me, the books kind of went off the rails after that. I can see a director from a VFX background like Gareth Edwards or Tim Miller trying to take them on (if Villeneuve makes part 3 work and the studio is happy with it).
I would watch the shit out of God Emperor. It would be 9 hours long, 7 of which would need pointless philosophizing and it would suck and I would love it.
Chapterhouse would be a Skinemax movie for leotard fetishists.
I would watch the shit out of God Emperor. It would be 9 hours long, 7 of which would need pointless philosophizing and it would suck and I would love it.
Chapterhouse would be a Skinemax movie for leotard fetishists.
Petition for Werner Herzog to write direct and star in a one man production of God Emperor begins here.
For me Dune part two was bombastic brilliance. Obviously truncated from the book but almost as good as you could have done. My only problem was Christopher Walken who just turned up and did Christopher Walken things which took me out of it, I don’t get the casting literally any older character actor would have been better. Still what a film if you can see it on imax do so, it really deserves a huge screen.
Yeah, honestly kind of tired of Christopher Walken.
I just learned why Walken was the perfect casting for the Dune Emperor.
Dune 2 was enjoyable but I don't feel like I will think about it again after a week or two.
plots he dropped from this version. I wonder why.
He really dropped the whole spacer's guild plot. We have no strong idea of why Dune is important. Maybe a throw away line or two.
And the mentats plot. No Thufir Hawat with his drug cat. And metants were in the first one so I wonder why they dropped that altogether.
First you should spoiler it since it's not even been out a week and it does differ from the book
Second yes it was described in much detail why Dune is important in the first movie.
spoilered.
and yes you're right I had forgotten - funny how in the first movie the explanation is given by voice exposition rather than by a visible character.
It covered multiple things... it informed the movie audience and replicated the lessons that were given to Paul from the book
We saw Dune: Part 2 tonight taking advantage of $5 Tuesdays at the local theater. So much fun. I loved it. I think it contrasted the beautiful mystique of the first part very well.
Silly and slightly OT: I want to see Dune 2, but I would like to see Dune 1 again (as a long thing with an intermission between the two).
1) How would I find that (if that exists near me) without just googling every movie theatre within an x-mile radius or
2) What streaming service is Dune 1 on?
Dune 2 was great. Wife and I saw it last night. Took the good groundwork from Part 1 and built a good story on top of it.
If you can do so, see it on IMAX 70mm. Picture is great, but the sound is as much of the impact on this one. Constant moody tones set the feel, with the score and chanting coming in at time to shake the theater. Battle scenes you feel. Really pulls you into the big screen.
Very much enjoyed Dune 2. Everyone having a blast, enough well thought through changes to the story - giving Chani and Lady Jessica hell of a lot more agency for starters - that it all works extremely well. Looked stunning although that’s par for the course for Villeneuve these days.
Just a slight shame Walken didn’t really turn up.
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